Is this the weirdest cinema experience ever? We tried Edible Cinema - The City of Lost Children

Taking place at Rio Cinema in Dalston, Edible Cinema chose French classic The City of Lost Children as their film.

From watching it in a park through to dressing up and acting out the movie beforehand, there's no end of ways to go to the cinema. Gone are the days of plonking yourself down with a box of bankruptcy-inducing-ly expensive popcorn and enjoying any old flick, now, it's all about how you watch it. Edible Cinema is one such company that promises to change the way you see film, though they're skipping the polytechnics and fancy dress for the simplest sense: taste.

Edible Cinema is the work of Soho House, Teatime Production and Bombay Sapphire, and as such, is crafted skillfully. If you were expecting canapes and nibbles, then you're in for a shock as the event aims to bring subtle parts of the film to life via your taste buds. In the past, cinema goers have eaten pine smoked popcorn as characters in Pan's Labyrinth run through the forest, or a rich chocolate truffle in Harry and Sally's most infamous scene. For our visit, eight little boxes had been prepared for a screening of The City of Lost Children, the creepy French classic.

Taking place in the gorgeous Rio cinema, things kick off with a welcome cocktail before we were handed a tray of eight cups; while the film played, a luminescent number would shine to show us which numbered cup to eat. Things started off pretty easily with a small bite of toffee apple as an apple banged against the windows on screen. As the film continued and became more sinister, the food choices were prepared accordingly. With nothing but what was happening in the film, our sense of smell and taste, eating the boxes actually became more and more challenging; in one scene with a fly-covered basket of fish, we had an anchovy marinated in Marjoram with fish sauce and dulse. While it might be a perfectly lovely combination in broad daylight, while watching a great mound of rotting seafood on screen, I found it suddenly repugnant. That's the fun of edible cinema though, you're not there for an eight course meal, you're there to experience a story through your taste buds, sense of smell and atmosphere.

Edible Cinema takes place in various locations across London, keep an eye out on their page for listings. Tickets usually start from around £35.